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Poor diet accounts for 70,000 premature deaths every year in Britain

According to a new report, in Britain more than 70,000 premature deaths occur each year because of poor diet.

7 Jan 2008

Minorities less likely to receive pain-relieving opioid drugs in ER

Blacks and Hispanics who go to hospital emergency departments in pain are significantly less likely than whites to get pain-relieving opioid drugs, according to a new study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

7 Jan 2008

Older women heart patients benefit from educational programs - lead to better health

Older women heart patients benefit from educational programs as a supplement to clinical care to help significantly lower cardiac symptoms, lose weight and increase physical activity, a new study shows.

7 Jan 2008

Purchasing contact lenses online may place individuals at risk for harmful eyecare practices

Purchasing contact lenses online may save consumers time, but the process could cause more problems in the long run, according to a new study reported in the January issue of Optometry: Journal of the American Optometric Association.

7 Jan 2008

Arizona Patient Protection Act introduced

Arizona registered nurse leaders today announced the historic introduction of major legislation to make Arizona hospitals safer for patients and strengthen the ability of RNs to expose unsafe conditions and advocate for patient protections.

7 Jan 2008

Wisconsin now screens all newborns for severe combined immune deficiency

Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to screen all newborns for Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID).

4 Jan 2008

Study finds way to increase use of health information record technologies

Slow diffusion of patient-managed electronic health information record technologies, or PHRs, has limited the development of an interoperable health information infrastructure that will greatly improve health-care quality and cost and will save lives.

4 Jan 2008

Prescription drug ads on television minimize risk information

Prescription drug ads on television first hit the airwaves just over a decade ago, but a new University of Georgia study finds that most of them still do not present a fair balance of information, especially when it comes to the risk of side effects.

4 Jan 2008

FDA reviews new data on risks of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing new data from two studies that provide further evidence of the risks of anemia drugs known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, or ESAs.

4 Jan 2008

Growing burden of arthritis in the U.S.

Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the United States. Over the next 25 years as the Baby Boom generation continues to age, the toll of this disease will escalate.

3 Jan 2008

Live operators crucial factor for public health department disease-reporting hotlines

Public health departments that staff disease-reporting hotlines with live operators at all times are more likely to meet federal guidelines designed to help stop the spread of infectious diseases, according to a RAND Corporation study.

3 Jan 2008

FDA clears first rapid blood test for MRSA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it has cleared for marketing the first rapid blood test for the drug-resistant staph bacterium known as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which can cause potentially deadly infections.

3 Jan 2008

Tonsillectomies to treat chronic and recurrent tonsillitis

Tonsillectomies to treat chronic and recurrent tonsillitis substantially improve a patient's quality of live in both children and adults, according to two new studies published as a supplement to the January 2008 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

2 Jan 2008

Marital status doesn't affect lung cancer survival

Contrary to previous studies, married patients with lung cancer do not have longer survival, according to analysis of an extensive Mayo Clinic database in the December issue of "The Oncologist."

2 Jan 2008

New clinical practice recommendations to help health care providers treat people with diabetes

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has issued its annual Clinical Practice Recommendations to help health care providers treat people with diabetes using the most current evidence available.

2 Jan 2008

Health coverage improves health and reduces major heart complications

As presidential candidates ramp up their primary campaigns, health care reform looms prominently among voters' main concerns.

28 Dec 2007

Brief intervention helps emergency patients reduce drinking

Asking emergency department patients about their alcohol use and talking with them about how to reduce harmful drinking patterns is an effective way to lower rates of risky drinking in these patients, according to a nationwide collaborative study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

28 Dec 2007

Researchers prevent muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis

Severe muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis - a highly debilitating autoimmune disorder - can be prevented or reversed by blocking a key step in the immune response that brings on the disease, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found.

20 Dec 2007

Correctional system health care issues

That question is addressed in a special issue of Journal of Correctional Health Care (JCHC), opening up correctional system health care issues to outside evaluation and input.

20 Dec 2007

Health care savings, coverage for all could lower spending $1.5 trillion over 10 years

Guaranteed health insurance for all combined with several federal policy options to achieve health care system savings could result in $1.5 trillion in reduced spending over 10 years, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report prepared by Fund staff and the Lewin Group for study by the Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System.

20 Dec 2007